Dr. Beach has chosen the 14 miles of undeveloped ocean front beach on Ocracoke Island as the #1 beach in the country. Most of Ocracoke is in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and is protected from development.

This is the first time that a beach was chosen that was not in Florida or Hawaii. Each beach can only be chosen once and then it is no longer in the competition. Ocracoke has made the top 10 list before but after this first place it will not be eligible in the future.

I just spent a week there and it truly is a wonderful place to relax and enjoy the beach. There is not much to do on Ocracoke so you had better enjoy the beach or it is not for you. For those staying on the northern Outer Banks, Ocracoke makes a good day trip with a free ferry ride and a quaint village.